Just finished the first two loops of our layout. We are getting ready to lay the sidings on the outside of the loops. I have a question about the sidings. Those of you who use cork do you put it on your sidings and ballast or just ballast. I am using Gargraves Stainless Steel flex track and Ross Switches. (I assume no Ballast on the switches)
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I suppose that depends on the look you want. Most yards are not graded the same as a main line. I place the yard track directly on the tabletop and ballast differently to create a visual difference.
I put my mainline on top of strips of 3/8" thick rubber (anti-fatigue matting), the sidings and yard were laid on top of the plywood. in this photo, you can see the grade from mainline to line going to sidings just behind the caboose (the ballast goes from a gray to a brown color):
On my old garage layout, the entire yard was laid on top of a 2x8 sheet of the rubber mat so that everything was flat (and quiet too).
Thanks for the pictures Bob. My son suggested the non cork method like you and NECRAILS said. Makes sense.
I have my mainlines on cork. But I taper the entry/exit switches and a short length[it varys] of track down from the mainline to lay Yard track directly on foam. I filled in around the track with 3/16" foamboard to create a sunken-in-the-ground look for my Yard tracks. I ballasted the Yard wirh black,sooty, greasy looking stone from Brennan's.
It is essential to glue the 3/16" foamcore board well to the underlayment foam or benchwork and, in my case I put liquid caulk on the foamcore board edges. Having done, so I escaped any warping or release of the cardboard and foam core when I used wet water and glue mix to set the ballast.
We used cork under the mainlines but not the sidings, engine, or industry tracks. The cork gives the mainline just a bit of elevation over the sidings. We just let the track "float" between where the cork stops and the flat point on the siding. This gives you a nice transition between the 2 different elevations. Then the ballast will fill in the voids. Switches will get ballast as well, you just have to becareful around the points.
Jim,
The foreground was made from modeling fibre from True Scene Modeling:
I think Bill and Maria now call it FusionFiber I believe. Easy product to work with and can even be laid down like a sub-roadbed and the track laid on top. That would make it very easy to transition from a mainline to a spur.
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